The Amateur Hour

Steve Raybine:


Blog #6;


The Amateur Hour






Back in the day, Ted Mack's Amateur Hour television show featured talented new performers demonstrating their musical skills, etc. This was a positive environment for these up-and-coming performers (talented amateurs/pre-experts) to make their entree into the professional world of the entertainment business. In contemporary music, however, we see a plethora of unskilled amateurs polluting the marketplace. Frequently, we are all privy to watching and/or listening to these inferior musicians who obviously have not studied and practiced their craft. This trend has disturbed me for quite some time as the prevailing tendency within the music business often features and applauds style over substance.






How has this artistic travesty happened? Who are these pretenders that fancy themselves credible and competent musicians? Do these individuals mistakenly think that anyone who picks up an instrument can actually play it well? They are most likely people who cut corners in life and don't want to put in the time and effort to learn how to become skilled instrumentalists--that would actually take years of preparation and training. Unfortunately, their performing skills are simultaneously laughable and pathetic. They have absolutely no criterion for what constitutes true talent as they routinely embarrass themselves on bandstands across the world. I wish I had a dollar for every incompetent drummer, guitarist or vocalist I've seen perform--I could have retired long ago.






Money, no doubt, is the root cause of this musical debacle. Over time, some recording companies have obviously decided that a good-looking woman or man on stage equals an influx of dollars for their company. Alternatively, screaming, shrieking vocalists are a freak show that certain audiences find mysteriously appealing and intriguing. I assume that these are the same people that attend grotesque horror movies for shock value--a truly bewildering scenario? Granted, there is no accounting for taste, but considering how inundated the entertainment business is with lesser talents, is the average listener even capable of appreciating true talent anymore? The perpetual erosion of talent standards has been so prevalent that many audiences have come to expect mediocre performances as the norm.






The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) union has tried to maintain certain professional standards within its membership over time. In many instances, the poorly-trained amateur musicians have decided not to join the AFM, which has caused a schism between these two entities. The vast polarity between professional and unprofessional musicians seems to be an ever-widening gap, which has resulted in a stark contrast of musical standards. Some club owners, for instance, have been known to exploit the amateur musicians, as they are eager to perform for little or no monetary compensation. The club owner makes money by having a live band or bands performing within their establishment(s), but frequently, little thought is given to the artistic merit of these bands and whether they truly deserve to be performing before an audience . This situation perpetuates a dumbing-down of true musical talent. Professional musicians are contractually bound to perform for an agreed-upon wage or pay structure that is in accordance with the AFM bylaws. In some states, however, the AFM can't enforce these rules as it might be a right-to-work state that doesn't require musicians to be members of the American Federation of Musicians. In those situations, the amateurs may choose not to join the AFM and decide to play for whatever compensation (or lack thereof) that they so choose. Obviously, this is a bad precedent that has been established in clubs throughout cities within the United States.






In summation, we, the audiences, have been and continue to be exploited by the unskilled and incompetent amateurs/nonprofessional-oriented musicians of the world. Their handiwork appears on CD's; radio; television; DVD's; clubs; concert venues; etc. They are a nuisance not only to professional musicians, but to the talented, artistically-motivated amateur musicians that will one day become viable and well-established professionals themselves. What can we do about it? Well, don't buy their product or support their performances--that would be a good start. Call your local radio stations and ask to hear music that doesn't insult your musical intelligence. I don't mind contenders in my field, but I definitely have no patience with the amateur "pretenders" that have infiltrated the music business. We have a very long way to go before we regain our collective musical standards, but it has to start somewhere... and with someone.






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